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Best Thermostat Setting for Winter: What Temperature Should Your Thermostat Be Set To?

The best thermostat setting for winter is 68 degrees Fahrenheit when you’re home and awake, that’s the number the U.S. Department of Energy recommends for balancing home heating comfort and savings. But knowing the right winter thermostat setting for your home is only the beginning. The real question most homeowners have is: “What temperature should I set my thermostat to in winter to actually save you money, and keep the house comfortable while doing it?” How much you lower the temperature when you’re sleeping or away, whether you upgrade to a smart thermostat, and how Austin’s climate changes what your heating bill looks like by the end of the season.

Our expert HVAC contractors in Austin break down the recommended thermostat settings for winter, how to save even more by adjusting it at the right times, and what Austin homeowners in particular should keep in mind.

Table of Contents

  1. What Temperature Should Your Thermostat Be Set To In Winter?
  2. DOE Recommendation
  3. The Setback Strategy
  4. What Temperature To Set Your Thermostat When You’re Asleep or Away
  5. Smart vs Programmable Thermostat
  6. Thermostat Tips for Austin Homeowners in Winter
  7. How These Settings Can Help Reduce Your Costs

What Temperature Should Your Thermostat Be Set to in Winter?

According to the Department of Energy and ENERGY STAR, the ideal thermostat temperature for winter is 68 degrees Fahrenheit during hours when you’re home and awake. This recommended temperature is the best because it balances indoor temperature comfort with energy efficiency. The right temperature for the winter keeps your home warm without running your heating system harder than it needs to work.

Here’s why 68 degrees Fahrenheit during the day works so well: the smaller the gap between your indoor temperature and the outdoor air, the less your furnace or heat pump has to work. Setting it higher than 68°F, say, 74°F or 76°F, forces your heating system to maintain a much larger temperature differential on cold days. That extra effort shows up directly on your energy bill.

The Department of Energy’s Recommended Thermostat Settings for Summer and Winter

Understanding the settings for summer and winter together gives you the full picture of how thermostat temperature affects your annual heating and cooling costs.

The recommended settings for summer center on 78 degrees Fahrenheit when you’re home, this is the number ENERGY STAR recommends as the right setting for summer that balances cooling comfort and efficiency. The recommended settings invert this approach: lower indoor temperatures are more efficient because the heating load is lower.

Here’s a simple reference for the temperature for your home across all situations:

Situation Summer Setting Winter Setting
Home and awake 78°F 68°F
Sleeping 82°F 65°F
Away from home 85°F+ 62°F

The temperature for comfort in winter centers on that 68°F daytime mark. In summer, 78 degrees Fahrenheit is the efficient temperature that the Department of Energy recommends. The ideal temperature for each season is designed to save you money while keeping your home at the best temperature for the season without sacrificing comfort.

For Austin homeowners, summer and winter savings work differently. Because your AC runs for six or more months out of the year, your cooling costs typically dwarf your heating costs annually.

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The Setback Strategy: Save as Much as 10% by Adjusting When You’re Away

The single most effective tip for reducing heating costs is the setback: adjust your thermostat 7-10 degrees lower during hours when you don’t need full heating. Lowering the temperature when sleeping or away from home, and setting it to warm back up before you return, is the right setting strategy for serious winter energy savings.

According to the Department of Energy, you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by turning your system back 7 to 10 degrees from its normal setting for 8 hours when you’re asleep or away from home. Those 8 hours a day can save you significantly over a full winter — and the strategy doesn’t require any sacrifice to comfort during the hours you’re actually home. To put it another way: you can save up to 10% on your annual bill without ever feeling cold while you’re awake at home.

This works because your system runs less when it has less temperature difference to maintain. Every hour your home sits at 60°F instead of 68°F is an hour your system isn’t running — and your heating bill isn’t climbing.

The key is consistency. Lowering it when you’re away, and letting it warm back up before you return, captures almost all the savings without you noticing any difference in comfort.

When to lower the temperature in winter:

  • Sleeping: The ideal temperature for sleep is actually cooler than most people keep their homes during the day. Most sleep research points to 65°F or below as optimal. Lowering your unit to 65°F, or even 62°F, when you go to bed is both comfortable and efficient.
  • Away from home: If your home will be empty for 8+ hours, this is the best window to apply the setback. Set the system 7 to 10 degrees from its normal setting. For most households with a daytime setting of 68°F, that means setting it to 58–61°F while you’re away.

What Temperature to Set Your Thermostat When You’re Asleep or Away

You’re asleep or away from home for roughly 16 hours of every day, 8 hours overnight, 8 hours during work. The setback strategy during these windows is where you’ll save up to 10% on your annual heating and cooling spend.

A few guidelines on the temperature to lowering your thermostat during these periods:

  • When sleeping: 65°F is a comfortable temperature for most adults during sleep. If you have young children or elderly family members who feel the cold more acutely, 67°F is a reasonable compromise. Going below 62°F at night is generally uncomfortable and can also stress your unit when it ramps back up in the morning.
  • When away: The temperature should your thermostat hold while the house is empty depends on a few factors. Most HVAC professionals recommend no lower than 60°F during winter to protect pipes and plants. In Austin, where winter temperatures are usually mild, 60–62°F is a safe and efficient away temperature. On rare nights that drop below freezing, like the events of February 2021, keep the setback more conservative to save energy: 65°F or higher to protect plumbing.
  • Pets at home: If pets are staying in the house while you’re gone, keep the house above 65°F for dogs and cats.

Smart Thermostat vs. Programmable Thermostat: Which One Helps You Save More?

The best option for most homeowners is one that automates the setback schedule so you don’t have to think about it. There are two main options.

A programmable thermostat lets you pre-set different temperatures for different times of day and days of the week. When you set your thermostat to a schedule in advance, the setback happens automatically, no remembering to adjust it to 68 degrees in the morning or lower the temperature at bedtime. You program your away and sleeping temperatures in advance, and the thermostat executes the schedule automatically. Programmable models are more affordable and work well if your schedule is consistent.

A smart thermostat goes further. In addition to programmable scheduling, a smart thermostat learns your patterns, adjusts automatically, and can be controlled remotely from your phone. If your schedule changes, a day off, an early return, a late night, you can adjust your home’s temperature from wherever you are. Smart thermostats also provide energy reports that show exactly how your energy usage is trending, which helps you identify where you can save even more.

Both options help you capture the setback savings that are difficult to maintain with a manual thermostat. The right thermostat setting only saves money if it’s actually being applied — and automation makes that reliable.

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Thermostat Tips for Austin Homeowners in Winter

Austin’s winters are mild most years, which creates a false sense of security about home heating systems. Here’s what Austin homeowners should keep in mind when thinking about thermostat settings and winter energy.

Your heating system has been sitting idle. From May through October or November, your furnace or heat pump isn’t running for heating. Systems that sit unused accumulate problems, clogged condensate drains, degraded capacitors, dust on burners, that only show up when you first call for heat. If your system hasn’t been serviced before the cold season, it may not perform the way you expect when you finally set the thermostat to heat.

Heat pumps behave differently than furnaces. Many Austin homes run heat pumps rather than gas furnaces, especially in newer builds. A heat pump heats by extracting warmth from outdoor air — and the air it delivers to your vents is warmer than the outside temperature but cooler than what a gas furnace produces. Don’t mistake cooler-feeling air for a malfunctioning system. If your system is running but your home can’t keep your home warm to the setpoint during a cold snap, that’s worth a service call, but on a mild day, a heat pump at 68°F is working correctly even if the air doesn’t feel “hot.”

The thermostat in winter matters more during freeze events. Most of Austin’s winter is mild enough that your heating barely runs. But February 2021 showed that a severe cold event can arrive fast and last days. Having your system tuned up, your thermostat properly programmed, and your setback settings not too aggressive (keeping the home above 65°F during freeze events) protects your home and your plumbing.

How These Thermostat Settings Can Help Reduce Your Costs

Let’s put the savings in perspective. If you’re asking “what temperature should I set my thermostat in winter?” and “how much can I save?” — here are real numbers. At 68°F during the day and a setback to 60°F for 8 hours a day while you’re not home or sleeping:

  • The setback alone can save as much as 10% on your total heating and cooling spend, this is from the Department of Energy’s own data
  • The typical Austin home with a gas furnace running through December, January, and February may spend $80–$200 per month on heating during those months
  • A 10% reduction from thermostat settings can help reduce your heating costs by $25–$60 over those three months without any changes to equipment or insulation, that’s real money from a free habit change

Ready to Get Your System Ready for Winter in Austin?

Getting the settings right is step one. Step two is making sure your unit is in good enough shape to respond to those settings efficiently. A system with a failing capacitor, low refrigerant, or a dirty heat exchanger will work harder and cost more regardless of what temperature you set.

Infinity AC of Austin provides heating tune-ups, furnace and heat pump repair, and full system diagnostics throughout the Austin area — Georgetown, Round Rock, Cedar Park, and surrounding communities. If your system hasn’t been serviced before the heating season, schedule a check-up before the first cold front hits.

Call our Austin heating experts or schedule online. We’ll make sure your unit is ready when Austin’s weather decides to remind you it’s actually winter.

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